Chapter 11! Enjoy~

FANFICTION

THE RISE OF LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF

CHAPTER XI : Mirrors of the Past

[Loki is sent spying on Jotunheim to find out the truth about the threat of war against the Mountain Giants. Teaming up with a seiðr user, Eisa, she tells him something is following him since his arrival in Jotunheim. They use the Crossway and a magical item that can guide them in the Crossway to reach Utgard but they are attacked by a creature which turns out to be an innocent baby saber tooth tiger. They land into some place filled with illusions and when they finally find a way out, they fall into some empty place and are separated.]

Loki grunted, feeling his whole body in pain. But if there was pain, he was alive. He blinked his eyes open and tried to look around before slowly realizing he was lying on his stomach, in the dirt. He rolled over, his entire body aching as he lay there, breathing hard and staring up at the dark ceiling. There was a low light, but he couldn't figure out where it came from. He only knew that there were high smooth walls and about two hundred meters above his head, the rocky ceiling.

He was covered in scratches and bruises but he was pretty sure his body wasn't broken in any way – mostly thanks to his seiðr he used to protect himself the best he could. He started to think of the reasons of his landing there.

Slowly, memories came back: the spies, the threat of war against the Mountain Giants, his mission. The Crossway, the Golden Sphere and—

"Eisa..!" He breathed, his voice raspy and low.

He sat up and looked around but he was all alone; Eisa wasn't here with him. Neither was the Sphere. The last time they had been together sliding down the tunnel, he had thrown it at her so he would be able to use his seiðr at full power. But now they had landed somewhere else in this labyrinth. He only hoped she wasn't dead and hasn't lost their only way of getting out of here alive.

He looked around but couldn't see any sign of presence of anything. He tried to listen for a voice, a step, anything, but it was completely silent. So silent he felt fear creeping up in him, tangling around his heart.

He shook himself almost violently, refusing to let fright take over him. He had a mission to accomplish. For his father, for his family and for himself. And in order to execute this mission he needed the Sphere – and Eisa had it. He needed to find them and focus on that.

Taking the direction she might have fallen to, he started to walk; with difficulty at first from his aching body, but he blessed the Æsir fast healing metabolism and his centuries of training as a warrior because he slowly walked at his regular pace. His muscles were still aching terribly, and he could feel the bruises getting darker at every one of his steps, but he ignored the pain and kept going.

At some point, he found some vine and he managed to climb to the top of a wall. But the only thing he saw was the immensity of the labyrinth, without any pattern he could follow or understand. It was a maddening maze and finding one person, or even one magical item, was probably impossible… But Loki didn't like the word "impossible" and he had a habit into getting rid of the "im".

But after following some walls and rooms leading to dead ends, as he tried to come back on his steps, he realized with dread that he was utterly and completely lost.

The myths and stories he had read as a child, then older, for his researches for the Crossway crept up in his mind despite him, his own words haunting his thoughts.

"The legends say that some of the most ancient and dangerous creatures live here. A place so powerful and important that even the Midgardians are aware of its existence. They talk about a place hiding dark and ancient powers. Some say it's a labyrinth…"

Loki tried not to think about the fact that he was most definitely lost in a labyrinth and tried to ignore the particular legend he has read about.

"A labyrinth, hiding a hideous beast that each year, devoured seven young men and young women. A merciless monster, half human and half bull. Just like the Labyrinth of Solomon that represented with its inextricability the image of life with its ways and deceptions that lead to death."

The young man stopped breathing when he heard a monstrous roar echoing through the labyrinth. He got so scared he jumped and fell against a wall, holding onto it and watching with frightened eyes all around him, searching for any sign of a creature. He suddenly froze, watery green eyes widening considerably as he stared just in front of him at the opposite wall. He swallowed and pushed himself away from the wall and slowly walked forward, not believing what he was seeing. But once he was right in front of it, he tilted his head on a side, lips parting and his breath coming short. He approached a trembling hand, his fingers tracing hesitantly the trails of five parallel marks across the wall. Marks that were too close to claws to be a human, but too close to a human hand to be a simple animal. Wide, terrible, frightening marks of claws scarring this wall…

"A hideous beast."

"A merciless monster."

"Lead to death…"

"Death. Death. Death. Death..!"

"You're going to die, Loki!"

"Who said that?!" He suddenly yelled, turning around sharply and taking his daggers in his hands, but he was shaking.

He observed the darkness but didn't see anything. He heard a laugh, but it could have been the wind resonating through the walls. He didn't feel a single breeze of air, but that couldn't be anything else, right?

He swallowed hard, glancing back to the wall but the wall was gone. Just like the claws marks. Did he dream it all? Did he see an illusion? Maybe he hit his head harder than he thought after his fall…

He slowly put the daggers back into their sheathes and tried to steady himself, pulling at his cloak to put it right. He lifted up his head and glanced around, looking mistrustful but he took a deep breath to calm down.

He looked around. There was a wall on his right, but he had only one way to go: forward, the other ways were dead ends.

He took a step forward right when another of his thoughts resonated in his head.

"In all cases, it is always a crossway…"

He gasped when he realized that the wall he had been following, just like the path he had walked on, were gone. He swallowed, breathing steadily becoming harder and harder as he slowly turned around on himself and realised he was now on a crossway. He was in the middle of a cross with four ways possible: one in front of him, one behind, two on each sides of him. But it had appeared suddenly, without even a move, without him realizing it…

"This maze is playing with my mind…" He breathed to himself, talking out loud more to break the intense heavy silence than anything.

He narrowed his eyes at each way, but the road seemed infinite, without even an end unlike all the ways he had seen until now: he could see the dead ends, where it turned, but now, the four ways were stretching infinitely without an end. He tried to use his seiðr but he was either too weak after using so much or too disturbed to focus – or both…

Suddenly, he gasped, his heart missing a beat when he saw his father right in front of him, half hidden in the darkness.

"F-father..?" He breathed, not believing Odin would be in such a place. It wasn't possible, he didn't know how to enter in the Crossway, how could he come in here?

"Loki…" Odin called.

"Father?" He repeated, frowning and sensing his heartbeat increasing as he took a step forward.

"Loki…"

He froze and glanced with eyes widened in fear at his left, seeing his mother, showing him her hand as she always did when he was angry or sad.

"Loki, come…" Frigga repeated with a smile.

He couldn't see her face, it was too dark and when he looked back to where Odin was, he hadn't moved. He hadn't smiled, his body seemed to reject Loki himself even from this distance. Just like he always did, he always stepped away from Loki as a child, as he grew up, even now as he was proving himself a great warrior and a skilled strategist, Odin didn't want of his second son.

"Brother…"

Loki's heart missed a beat and he turned to his right, seeing Thor, holding Mjollnir and his red cape looking like a waterfall of blood…

"Brother, please…" He repeated.

"T-Thor..?" The raven haired man whispered, frowning at the figure of his brother.

None of them were supposed to be here, it wasn't right, something was wrong.

"Loki." Odin called, urgent in his voice that forced his son to look back at him.

"Loki, save us." Frigga pleaded, her voice trembling with tears, making her son's eyes tear up as well.

"Brother, help." Thor begged, sounding desperate and betrayed.

"S-stop…" Loki breathed, trying to look back on the ground, but he was unable to tear his eyes away from the figures that kept calling him.

"Loki…"

"Loki, you need to save us…"

"You need to choose which one of us you'll save, brother…"

"Loki, please…"

"I'm your mother, Loki…"

"Loki, obey your father."

"Loki…"

"Loki…"

"Which death will you choose?"

"Which one will you kill?"

"Loki…"

"Brother…"

"LOKI!"

He wanted to scream but his voice was strangled and he was unable to. But when he looked up in complete panic, he saw his father and for the first time, he wasn't darkened. He could see his face's features, he was pale and his one good eye was closed and the young god recognized the weakening Odinsleep.

"Loki, choose."

"Loki, please!"

His green eyes darted to Thor and he saw with horror that Mjollnir had fallen on the ground. Just like his brother's hand, resting on the dusty ground. When Loki looked up in horror at his brother, his nose was bleeding and his eyes crying, his wide blue eyes filled with sadness, betrayal and guilt.

"Brother, why?" He asked in a breath.

"I-I didn't.." He murmured, taking a step backward in complete terror, not believing his eyes.

"Why did you do that..?" He continued, his voice shaking.

"N-no…" He breathed, panting in complete panic.

"Why didn't you save me, Loki?"

He turned around at his mother's voice, shaking when he saw her falling on the ground, blood tainting her blue dress. He opened his lips to scream but was unable to. He felt like falling to his knees but he didn't have time because he heard another voice resonating around him; or in his head, he didn't know anymore.

"You could have saved her. You could have saved them all, Loki…"

He turned around, behind him and he stopped breathing, his heartbeat increasing even more. He stared at himself. The fourth member of the family. But it wasn't him. The Loki he was staring at was darker and he looked at Loki with a gaze filled with pity, sadness and guilt…

"Look at what you've done…" He murmured, shaking lightly his head.

"N-no, I-I didn't.." He started, but his voice was barely hearable, his other him taking a step forward.

Suddenly, without even looking, Loki knew that the ghosts of his family had disappeared, just like the different passages. There was only his own ghost.

"You didn't choose to save them, you've doomed them to their fates! Look! Look at what you've done!" He exclaimed, his voice vicious.

Loki jumped and breathed hard, shaking his head, taking a step backward but his other self, his darker self that seemed so mad and enraged took another step towards him in a threatening way.

"You've killed them, Loki!"

"N-no.."

"You're a monster!"

"No! I'm not!" He yelled.

"Don't deny your true nature! You're a monster!" The ghost yelled back, tears streaming down his face.

"NO! I'm not!" He cried out, jumping away and throwing his daggers at the ghosts.

The mad angry Loki gave away a breathless gasp when he received the daggers and he turned his pale broken gaze towards the panicked and scared one. Loki would have expected any reaction except a relived sad smile appearing on his greying face…

"I'm a fool… I'm a fool…" He murmured until his voice faded away.

Loki didn't look away, didn't blink but suddenly, his ghost was gone. He swallowed, looking and turning around, but he was suddenly back to the maze with the wall on his right and the path leading forward.

He tried to ignore the voices of his family, his own mad voice echoing in his mind but he knew he could never forget those visions. He could ignore them, but something told him in the back of his mind that it would never leave him. One day, it would come back, and it would haunt him again…

He took some hesitant steps forward, hardly breathing and still shaking from the visions. He was sweating and his heart kept on hammering against his chest. Unable to take another step, he fell more than leaned against the wall, holding onto it with trembling hands, staring right in front of him with wide panicked eyes, terror and horror still dancing in his pale green orbs…

"Visions… J-just visions.. they're not here, they're safe… This isn't what is happening, this isn't what will happen… This isn't.. i-it's just the—"

Loki froze when he realized that the word about to escape his lips was "truth".

"I-I'm not a monster…" He murmured, closing his eyes and ignoring the tears rolling down his cheeks silently, "I-I'm Loki O-Odinson.. of.. Asgard…" He whispered. "I-I'm Loki Odinson. I am Loki Odinson…" He repeated in a loop, in a low shaking voice.

He was panting and he tried to clear his mind, despite the haunting visions, despite the words echoing in his mind. Despite all of that, he forced himself to focus on one thing only: his mission. He had to reach Utgard and for that, he had to get out of this nightmare, this maze. To get out of the labyrinth he needed—

"I found something, a powerful weapon and magical item that will guide us through the Crossway. It will hide us from creatures and will hide most of its darkest paths from us. She gave him.. a ball of thread."

"The Golden Sphere…" He breathed, opening his blurry eyes again, "Eisa."

He blinked away the last tears, wiping them angrily – against himself, against his tears, his fears and the terrible visions.

"Eisa…" He repeated, looking up and moving forward.

It didn't take long for the maze to play with his mind again, but the Prince was too foggy, too disturbed to think straight and as soon as he saw a golden thread on the ground, he jumped forward. After all, there were little chances Eisa could have kept the item in her hand as they fell, it makes perfect sense that the Golden Sphere would have fallen somewhere else and Loki was lucky enough to find it again.

But as soon as his fingers brushed the golden light, it disappeared and exploded. He blinked, on his knees and looked up. No, the Golden Sphere – or its illusion, apparently – hadn't exploded. Golden light had invaded the walls of the labyrinth. He frowned, looking around and realized he wasn't in the maze anymore, he was in Asgard. The white and golden warm room seemed familiar but in the same time, there was something off he couldn't quite understand.

Did he fall through one of the Crossway's passage directly to Asgard? He couldn't believe he was so lucky as to fall directly back at his home. He shook his head, almost slapping himself for even wishing to be home when he had a mission to accomplish.

He looked up and finally recognized the room: it was the bedroom Thor and he had spent their childhood in and he looked at the bed that had seemed to be giant for them when they were little boys, swallowing them into layers of sheets and furs.

His heart missed a beat when he saw his mother, sitting on the edge of the bed. Alive and well, the blood on her dress gone.

"Mother!" He exclaimed, smiling foolishly and about to jump on his feet to hug her.

"Mother!" Another voice echoed to his.

He froze, still shaking on his knees on the ground before realizing that his mother was facing whoever was in the bed. And his heart squeezed painfully when he saw two heads, one blond, one black under the covers, behind his mother's silhouette.

"Mother!" Called the voice again.

Loki's voice got stuck in his throat as he realized that it was him. But unlike the mad ghost of himself, this was a memory, of himself as a child, with his brother when Frigga was telling them stories to fall asleep…

"Are you reading us Sleeping Beauty again, Mother?" Child-Thor asked.

Loki almost smiled at the memory of the first Midgardian story he ever heard of, from his dear mother…

"Thor is scared of the Dragon Maleficent." Child-Loki said, even so young he was already teasing his older brother…

"I am not!" Thor exclaimed, glaring at his brother and pouting.

"Now, now, boys. When you are feeling afraid or sad, remember that you have your brother beside you. Brothers protect each other." Frigga said with a soft voice.

"Even if he's really annoying?" Loki asked, making the adult version of himself chuckle lightly.

"I am not!"

"Especially when he annoys you. Or when he turns you away, when he is cruel or even when he hurts you; never forget that you are brothers. And brothers protect each other…" She repeated.

Loki blinked and when he looked up, he wasn't a child in his room anymore, with his brother protecting him and his mother telling them Midgardian stories. He was in the labyrinth, in the Crossway, lost and afraid.

He looked around and fell on his butt, staring at the infinite ways and roads, all ready to trap him and slowly kill him with his memories and haunting visions of horror…

He suddenly didn't feel any strength. Not to get up, not to find the Sphere or Eisa, not even to cry or yell… He remained still, kneeling on the dusty ground, feeling empty without really knowing what was the cause of it. The pain, the exhaustion, the emotions? He was missing his family and his home and he almost cursed himself for wishing to take on this mission. Why did he decide that again? Why did he decide to walk away from his home? Why did he leave it behind?

"I shall make you proud father!" He has exclaimed back there, just proud and happy to have a chance to shine. A chance to be more than just a shadow behind his bright brother.

What was the point of it anymore? Why did he want to shine? He was just fine in the darkness as long as he had his family…

But it's not enough… He thought, his jaw clenching lightly.

"Look at you…"

He jumped up and around, taking a defensive position and stared at Eisa who was smirking darkly at him. But it wasn't Eisa, it was another of the labyrinth's illusion created to drive him crazy – and unfortunately, the maze was making an excellent job at that.

"You're so pathetic, Loki…" She added with a snarl, walking around him in a circle like a predator would.

"Go away." He said, shocked to hear his own voice hoarse from his crying earlier.

He frowned, trying to keep his will but she only smirked more, her red lips mocking him and her green eyes dancing with joy to see him like that.

"You're just an illusion." He repeated with a firmer voice.

If he had any chance to go back to his family, it would be by starting to get out of this labyrinth and he would fight everything coming his way if necessary. He was a proud Prince and a fierce warrior, he wouldn't be broken so easily and certainly not by some walls.

"Am I?" She asked, tilting her head. "More than an illusion, I am your fear. Your deepest, worst fear, Loki…"

"You don't know my fears. You know nothing of me!" He hissed, clenching his fists.

She stopped and stared down at him, her auburn hair taking a slightly redder appearance, as if set on fire, just like her gaze. It was a bright green but it was enchanting and swirling like a fiery beacon in the night.

"On the contrary, Loki. I know everything about you." She said with so much conviction it shook him.

Suddenly, she was at his throat, her nails brushing his jaw in a way that could have been seductive if her eyes hadn't been so cold and vicious. She was dangerous, like a predator playing with her prey knowing it will end up dead between its claws and teeth no matter what.

"I can tear you apart at any moment, Loki. I can break you into pieces to the point you won't even be able to recognize your own reflection."

Feeling unease at such discomfort, Loki swallowed and she noticed it because she smiled even more.

The second that followed she was back circling around him and he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself and not be disturbed by this maddening illusion. Like all the others, it would just open wounds and make him bleed.

She tilted her head on a side, as if she could read his thoughts and seemed amused by the image.

"You're right, Loki. Let's do that. Let's make your wounds bleed."

He frowned but she continued, walking quietly and elegantly around him, dressed with a fiery voluptuous red dress that seemed to fly around like sparkles would increase a fire.

"You think the maze created them, but it's not the case: it had always been there, hidden deep down in your heart. Those fears and those thoughts you never admitted even to yourself."

She turned to face him, her smile making him shiver in sudden fear at the words that would follow:

"The fear that you will never be enough, never be accepted, by no one."

"I am enough! I am accepted!" He exclaimed almost feverishly, "I am a Prince of Asgard!" He yelled.

"Are you?" She asked with an amused look. "The truth is: you hate it all. You hate them all!" She hissed, sounding as disgusted as he suddenly felt.

He gave a nervous chuckle, trying to shake off the cold feeling surrounding his heat but she continued, each and every one of her words hitting him like a wave.

"You want them dead!"

"No!" He exclaimed, frowning and shaking his head, "They're my family!"

"Are they? Do they treat you like family?" She asked.

He opened his lips but no word would escape them. He swallowed, a shudder running down his spine as she continued, her voice hard, her gaze cold and her face serious:

"Did your brother ever realize how misunderstood and how lonely you are? Did he ever treated you like an equal? No, he never did."

He froze, trying to push away the thoughts that starting to invade his mind.

She's right… No. No, she's not. Thor is my brother. He said to himself, shocked he even started to think she could tell the truth.

"The only thing he knows is that he is the future King of Asgard and he doesn't need a prick like you; after all, you are nothing alike. He is strong, handsome, adored and powerful. When you are weak, different, mischievous and bad. He is everything everyone adore, and you are everything everyone hate. You are despicable, Loki; and you know it!" She spitted, looking him up and down disdainfully.

"Your mother, oh, your dear mother. She pitied you so much she taught you magic! She felt sorry for her despicable son!" She exclaimed, hurting him deeper than he thought possible.

"And the worst? Your father knows it, everyone does. You will never be enough for your father! After all, how could you? You are nothing but deceptions and illusions!"

She paused, looking suddenly highly amused before turning towards him with a smirk:

"Oh? Just like this labyrinth, aren't you?" She asked as he swallowed and tensed even more, his fists clenching as a dreadful feeling invaded his insides painfully, "Your tricks and illusions have gained you nothing but being despised and scorned! You are nothing but a series of deceiving trickery, pretending to be someone you're not! You are a danger, a threat for all of Asgard and the Nine Realms!"

"No! I'm not! I'm a Prince working for the good of Asgard!" He exclaimed, but even he didn't seem convinced by it.

"You hate them! You hate them for treating you like a constant disappointment! You hate them for looking down at you, for discarding you aside! Let's eliminate the dark Prince Loki, and let shine the Mighty Thor!"

"Shut up…" He murmured, clenching his fists until he was shaking.

His gaze had turned colder and darker as she continued her speech, anger boiling in him. He tried to ignore it, but the burning pit in his stomach of pure fury was slowly rising to his heart, taking over it no matter how much he is trying to fight it off. But this fury wasn't caused by the labyrinth and the illusionary Eisa. It was her words, the memories of all those times his father looked away from him, all those times Thor laughed and walked away from him completely unaware of his hurt and loneliness, all those times Frigga posed a worried, sorry gaze on him as she thought he wasn't seeing those emotions in her eyes. All those times people looked down at him at the court, how he is mocked and being ridiculed constantly by Thor, the Einherjar, the Warrior Three or Sif. How people walk away from him and whisper words they think he can't hear. But he does, he hears everything. And everything hurts…

"He is such a failure."

"I can't believe Odin has such a son. I am so sorry for him…"

"He is so different from Thor! Thor is so bright and this Prince is so.. disappointing."

"He is nothing like his father and brother."

"He is Loki, after all."

"Just face it, Loki." Eisa said, suddenly in front of him.

She looked at him with pity for a moment, which only made him even more furious, his eyes turning cold and raging, ready to strike her. He wanted to grab her neck and break it, to make her shut up as if it would shut up everyone else who ever talked in his back.

But then, a bright light appeared in her eyes. He couldn't tell what it was, determination or madness, but it made him curious and he hesitated just long enough for her bright red lips to open again:

"You want your revenge Loki, you want power."

He swallowed and felt his heart drop, his eyes wide in fear, distress and fury. But he couldn't lie to himself anymore. She was telling the truth. He couldn't tell if he craved for revenge or power, but he wanted something. Something that would be his, something that wouldn't have been made by his father before, something that couldn't belong to his brother, something that no one ever did before, something that would be his and solely his.

"You want the power to show them all that you are worth something, that you are a true Prince of Asgard."

He breathed deeply, imagining with a cold satisfaction the shocked look they would make if he ever managed to reach this point. Shining brighter than Thor, even for a moment, getting out of the darkness everyone pushed him into.

"Loki, you are powerful. You are worth something better than what you are right now. You can have it, you just have to reach out your hand and grasp it. This power, you can have it, you can be who you truly are…" She whispered, leaning forward.

Her fingers brushed his jaw, but unlike the first time when he was unable to pull away despite his will, this time, he wanted to take her hand in his and look into her eyes to see another time this bright light of passion he couldn't understand. She smirked as if satisfied by his reaction when his angry eyes looked down at her, icy green meeting emerald green and collapsing against one another like swords.

"This is why I am here Loki…" She whispered, their gazes not leaving one another, "I am here to show you what you are capable of: I am a fiery being, just like your anger. Take it in, take me in, and you'll have the power to do as you wish…" She breathed.

She leaned forward, breathing against his lips. He stopped breathing, lips parting as he tried to control himself.

"This lust.. this fiery burning passion that you feel.. it's me, and your rage… Take it all in, accept it, Loki…" She breathed, biting his lower lip.

He growled and advanced forward to capture her lips but she had jumped away, laughing madly, her cold laugh resonating around them. Suddenly, she was on fire. And the entire room was surrounded by high flames that made his eyes turn into a fiery gold. He could feel the intense warmth emanating from the flames, but it didn't approach him, it only surrounded them. Her red hair was sparkling, and her dress was flying around ferociously at the same rhythm as the flames as she looked down at him with eyes so cold it burnt him completely.

He stopped breathing, as if back to himself and blinked, not knowing what to feel or what to think, unable to…

"This is what you are destined for, Loki!" She exclaimed, a violent satisfaction shining in her eyes as the fire burnt brighter.

He blinked, trying to see through the sparkles and the blinding fire – or perhaps it was Eisa who was blinding. But he was burning, whether it was from the flames or from rage, he didn't know but his heart was beating madly and for the first time in a long time, he felt right.

"Loki!"

He froze and turned around, seeing another Eisa. He looked between the fiery one approaching her hand to invite him while the other was running towards him, a golden light in her hand.

"Loki!"

"Loki, come!" The fiery vision asked him.

He watched the fiery mad Eisa and the one who was running to him, looking scared, desperate and terribly relieved.

Then everything crashed back to him: his mission to reach Utgard, the reasons pushing him forward, the reasons why he was in the Crossway and this labyrinth in the first place, his promise to Eisa… The real Eisa, the one running towards him, not the fiery illusion that was trying to tempt him to abandon everything.

And then he thought about all his bad thoughts of the last minutes: the guilt and powerless he felt as he saw his family killed, how he was accused of being a monster and how he felt like one before being burnt by this fiery illusion who was trying to convince him he didn't have a family or a home.

"Never forget that you are brothers. And brothers protect each other…"

He might be rejected, a shadow, but he was loved by his family. He knew it and he'd rather reject this power she promised and spent an eternity of loneliness watching over his loved ones than betraying them all.

Suddenly, all the rage, the sadness, the loneliness he had felt these past decades and the huge amount of fury that had been exposed, bleeding out his old wounds with this witch, it all came out.

He fell on his knees, throwing his head backwards and yelling his rage out, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white. He yelled for so long he felt as if his throat was being ripped off, his desperate raging voice echoing in the entire labyrinth, if not the whole Crossway. His seiðr exploded around him, tearing away all illusions of fire and fake Eisa who disappeared with a strangled scream.

He didn't even realize he had been crying and had stopped shouting, his scream still resonating in his ears. He opened his eyes and breathed with difficulty, feeling weak and lost. He couldn't see clearly, everything was blurry from his streaming tears and his body couldn't stand anymore. He fell backwards, expecting to hit the ground but warm soft hands caught him.

And then he heard her…

"Loki..!"

The voice seemed far away, but it resonated with fear, worry and concern for him…

"Loki, I'm here..!" Eisa exclaimed, holding him close as he slowly fell into darkness.

He looked up, expecting to see the darkness of the far away ceiling, but instead he saw through his blurry eyes two bright emerald eyes staring into his eyes. He saw worry, distress, care, love…

And then he fell unconscious, exhausted, his heart ripped opened and bleeding out the rest of his anger and sadness.

I'm very proud of this chapter considering the amount of angst and pain Loki feels, I like the way I wrote it and I hope you liked it too! This chapter and its events will have many, many consequences for the rest of the fanfic AND Loki's life. I think he, somewhat, always knew and felt this way but never admitted it until it crashed onto him and he turned into the dark Prince we know in Thor.

Share your thoughts!

NEXT CHAPTER: NIGHTMARES

Yours Truly,

May